Time in the glass allows the alcohol to drift away. The nose is WT straight to the core. Rye, leather, vanilla, touch of maple syrup, and cinnamon. A bourbon nose with lots of backbone, warning off the meek and children.

Taste:

Strong and rich sweetness quickly matched by warm (not too hot) spiciness that develops into cinnamony red hot mamma type pleasing burn. The rich and creamy sweetness wills itself across your palate and you (and you have good sense) enjoy it to the fullest..........simply cause it is good!

Finish:

This is WILD TURKEY...........what else needs to be said!

Overall:

Where would WHISKEY be without WILD TURKEY.................NOWHERE, that's where!!

Same as the bottle below with a Glass Glencairn, not the crystal reidel

Nose:

What a nice WT nose. Vanilla, nuts, some perfect citrus without alc and heavy rye/alc burn. A classic WT nose.

Taste:

The taste is everything I love about Wild Turkey. There is a WT taste that I love that I look for in any WT bottle. The Older 8 yrs (1992 and older) are what WT is to me. I judge everything WT against that $25 bottle.. and this has it, with a more refined finish.

Finish:

Clean, not the burn as before??? Just a soft slow bourbon that grows over time wonderful vanilla, nuts and good old WT flavors

This is the Old 8 yr bourbon that is refined. The finish puts this in the top of the WTs that I have had to date

Overall:

BourbonGuyJapan reminded me that I need to update this review.

I at first used my crystal Reidel and it had a tendency to open up the elements I do not like in a bourbon (big alc, flavorless burn, and heavier rye than a normal WT rye mix).

After the first 3rd of the bottle (that lasted a long while) I poured a toast to another member with my Glencairn (glass, not crystal) and WOW??? this was great bourbon??? I put down the rest of the bottle in about 3 days it was so good.

And ensure it was not a ???time on shelf??? change, I put it back in the crystal and it was like before.

Very important to remember to try your bourbons in many glasses until you find the proper home.

I have since purchased two more bottles??? so obviously I retract my comments below about not buying another???.

Nuts, leather, rye, oak, and vanilla. I would prefer a bit mo sweetness, but the nose is still good.

Taste:

Characteristic WT thickness which leaves the scene too quickly and doesn't last as long as it ort to. The spice that follows on the flick of sweetness is quite dry and strikes me as thin and without true grit.

Light at first then a rush of alcohol
Maple, nuts, vanilla, citrus
Almost no oak

Taste:

Rich and full of complexity. Not overly powerful.

Finish:

0-15 sweet to sharp alcohol and warming
15-30 seconds oak with a little taste of caramel
30-45 seconds the hard taste moves to multiple soft flavors with some floral hints. The complexity really shines through here. A bounty of all kinds of scents.
45-60 seconds very soft. Almost memory of oak and light corn.

Overall:

Good drinker. After drinking it side be side with many other WTs, it is better than the 101, the Russell, and Kentucky Spirit (just barely hear), but not as good as the Rare Breed and 1855.

The finish is much less than I expected. I thought the 15 yrs on the oak would make it stronger more complex bourbon, but somehow this misses that. There is good complexity, just not enough for the price.

Do not plan to spend ~$100 for it again. But at $35-45 I could get use to drinking this.

I find the nose of AS to have a bite to it. One does get the Wild Turkey signature nuts and leather and rye, which are seductive, but the nose just doesn't seem the equal of the best of the other WT bourbons. Not that it is a poor nose, mind you, but it is not a $93 nose. I am using the regular WT 101 as a control here and the regular is pret near its equal in my opinion.

Taste:

In contrast to TNbourbon, I find very little mid-palate in AS, it jumps from a rich opening to a too sharp rap at the back of the mouth. The richness is not sustained across the mouth but disappears very quickly, and then there is a peppery spice that is almost assaultive to me.........very sharp without a moderating sweetness to offset it. Not too different from the regular WT 101.

Finish:

Sharp, stiff, and strong, especially for a 100 proof bourbon.

Overall:

The best I can say for the Wild Turkey American Spirit bourbon is that it is slightly better than the regular Wild Turkey 101 bourbon. To my palate it is no where near the equal of the 12 YO, the 8 YO, Tribute, or Kentucky Spirit and is far more expensive than any of them (although the 12 YO and the 8 YO are no longer bottled). My opinion is that it is way over priced and I will not buy another bottle. The best Wild Turkey bourbon now bottled is probably Kentucky Spirit in my opinion. I was quite disappointed in American Spirit. Out of curiosity, I throwed it in the ring agin Russell's Reserve 101. The knockout blow occured within thirty seconds of the first round............RR 101 floored AS. And RR 101 is the bourbon WT discontinued.

The nose is a disappointment. It begins a bit manure-ish, with some leather and, eventually, a tinge of orange peel. Considering its opening, its subtlety is its best feature.

Taste:

The taste progression here is backward, at least according to expectation: it opens pretty dry and leathery-sour, but sweetens at mid-palate and displays some sweet orange prior to swallow. Some 'chewing' suffuses the mouth with a very nice, oily mouthfeel, blending the flavor elements in an interesting cacophony of sweet & sour mix.

Finish:

As 'minty' as any Wild Turkey I can remember, its power diminishes apace, but lingers on in hints of orange and leather. Call it medium.

Overall:

I like it. I won't pay $88 for it again for personal consumption. Worth a taste, though, if only to broaden one's WT horizon.